NoteDiscovery vs Tangent Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
VS
Tangent Notes
Local-first Markdown note editor with linked notes
| Feature | NoteDiscovery | Tangent Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 75 · Good |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,812 | ★ 556 |
| First released | 2024 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Notion | Obsidian, Roam Research |
What are NoteDiscovery and Tangent Notes?
NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base featuring wikilinks, a graph view, a drawing editor, and LaTeX and Mermaid rendering. It is designed for building and exploring a connected personal knowledge base.
- Wikilinks and graph view
- Drawing editor
- LaTeX and Mermaid support
- Self-hosted knowledge base
Tangent Notes
Tangent is a free, local-first note-taking application that stores notes as plain Markdown files and links them together into a connected map. It focuses on capturing and connecting ideas without a cloud dependency.
- Local-first storage
- Linked note map
- Plain Markdown files
- Session history
NoteDiscovery vs Tangent Notes: key differences
NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript, while Tangent Notes is built with TypeScript. Tangent Notes is the more established project (first released 2022), while NoteDiscovery arrived in 2024. NoteDiscovery has the considerably larger community, at 2,812 GitHub stars versus 556. NoteDiscovery lists first-class Docker deployment; Tangent Notes does not.
Why pick each one
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Tangent Notes if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is NoteDiscovery or Tangent Notes better?
Neither is universally better. NoteDiscovery has the larger community, while Tangent Notes is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NoteDiscovery and Tangent Notes free and open-source?
Yes. NoteDiscovery is licensed under MIT and Tangent Notes under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NoteDiscovery and Tangent Notes with Docker?
NoteDiscovery: yes. Tangent Notes: check the project docs for container support.